(Yicai Global) April 17 -- China has now become a key contributor to developing cutting-edge technologies in the world and will serve as an important source of global knowledge and technology output in the future, the International Monetary Fund has said in a report.

The report also refuted the notion that trade with China would leak US intellectual property, arguing instead that growing trade with China has positively impacted global science and technology and economic development, Chinese news site Sina reported today.

These conclusions appeared in the World Economic Outlook report the IMF released in the lead-up to the 2018 Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group convening in Washington, DC, from today to April 22.

The Two Tigers

China and South Korea, two emerging innovative countries which have significantly contributed to the development of cutting-edge technologies in the world, will likely exert a positive spillover effect on traditionally-innovative countries in future, per the report. Both east Asian nations have entered the top five rankings in the world if evaluated by a set of important indicators of scientific and technological innovation.

The two both come out in front in terms of both national investment in research and development and number of international patents, and China’s development is most prominent in the field of electronics and fiber optic equipment, the report noted.

Talking Trade

Turning to the current China-US trade relations dispute, the IMF countered the Trump administration’s view that trade with China compels the US to transfer intellectual property rights to the former and impairs US interests.

Rather, the continuous growth of trade with China in the past two decades has been positive for global science and technology and economic development, has changed the previous pattern of international competition, reduced the global market concentration of most sectors, and facilitated improvement of worldwide innovation, per the report.

Trade with China has propelled domestic innovation and the technological diffusion of China and enhanced the efficiency of global knowledge utilization, the report states.

The report also addressed China’s patent incentive policies in recent years and mentioned that the recent surge in Chinese patents is partly the product of a series of patent incentive policies the government introduced.

Plethora of Patents

Relevant financial and other incentives have lowered the cost of securing patents and indirectly increased the benefits of intellectual property protection, thus triggering the stellar growth of patents in China. Some ideas that may not qualify for patents in other countries can now be patented in China.

The number of patents in China is now the same as the sum of the rest of the world, but their share as against the world total would shrink dramatically if quality were considered, the report contends.

Editor: Ben Armour

Source: Yicai Global